Mail-bag-transferring apparatus.



w. H. AKENS.

MAIL BAG TRANSFERRING APPARATUSr APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19, I91].

Patented Dec. 25, 1917;

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W. H. AKENS.

MAIL BAG TRANSFERRING APPARATUS.

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WILLIAM H. AKENS, 0F ESPYVILLE STATION, PENNSYLVANIA.

MAIL-BAG-TRANSFERRING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

Application filed January 19, 1917. Serial No. 143,356.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM H. AKENS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Espyville Station, in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful improvements in l\Iail-Bag-Transferring Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to mail-bag transferring apparatus, and is in the nature of a development of the construction shown and described in my prior Patent, No. 1,0 l3,892, granted November 12, 1912. The improvements comprehended in the present invention relate primarily to the apparatus located at the transfer station, and involve the construction of both the projecting and the receiving devices, these devices being of such a character as to act with equal facility irrespective of the direction from which the postal car or train approaches the station, and being so constructed and arranged as to impel the bag containing the out-going mail with certainty and accuracy, through the 1 door opening, into the interior of the car,

and, simultaneously, to remove therefrom the bag containing the in-coming mail and, in receiving the latter bag, to take up and absorb the shock due to the impetus of the bag as it strikes the receiving device, thereby avoiding injury to the bag and its contents.

According to the present invention, the automatic projecting device, instead of being actuated by spring pressure, as in the earlier construction, is controlled by means of a double-acting rocker or cam, which operates directly upon the bag-supporting element and causes it to hurl the bag, catapult fashion, through the door opening, this rocker being adapted to turn in either direction and being itself actuated by a duplex lever system which is operated by the apparatus on the car. In this way, no dependence is placed upon springs, or analogous elements, which are liable both to weaken after constant use, and to rust and stiffen upon exposure to the weather, their effective force becoming weakened or impaired in either instance to an extent where the bag will fall short of the car door and roll into the path of the car wheels.

The receiving device is likewise of a duplex character, and preferably comprises a pair of swinging cradles, one for each direction of approach of the mail train, these when struck thereby, so as to take up the shock of the blow.

Both the projector and the receiving cradles, however, will be. hereinafter more fully described, as well as various other features comprised in the invention.

The accompanying drawing represents one embodiment of the invention, and therein Figure 1 is an elevation of the complete apparatus;

'Fig. :2 is a plan view thereof, part of the car being broken away, so as to more clearly disclose the apparatus carried thereby;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmental view in front elevation of the projecting device, showing the positions assumed by the component parts thereof just after operation, looking from the car toward the front of the apparatus at the station;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4,

Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the projector proper; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views-of the bag support on the car.

The complete apparatus comprised in the present invention consists, as will be under stood, of two coordinate groups of devices one of such groups being mounted on the car 5, and the other on a suitable platform 6, located at the station, close to the track. The latter group of devices, hereinafter termed the station apparatus, is composed of a pro jector 7, and two receiving devices 8, as pre viously stated. The platform 6, which supports the said projecting and receiving devices, is preferably in the form of an elevated skeleton frame or cage, whose top is open and whose sides are spaced apart, the front side, 6., the side facing the track, having its central portion removed, as shown in Fig. 8, to enable the operation of the projector,

The projector is here shown as constituted by a substantially vertical beam or body 9, having attached to its upper end a scoop or trough-shaped element 10, and to its lower end a block orbase member 11, both of these parts or members projecting forwardly toward the track, and the member 11 and the beam 9 being fur her connected by a bracestrap 12. The projector is mounted to rock bodily forwardly and backwardly in the open central portion of the cage or frame 6,

;its retracted or rear position, as will be understood from Fig. 5, such tendency being greatly increased when the added weight of the bag is imposed upon the projector; this position of the projector corresponding to the tensioned or cocked position of the spring-actuated projector plate of my earlier construction.

When the door opening 15 in the car comes opposite the projector, the latter is sharply swung or rocked forward, preferably by devices automatically controlled by the car itself, so as to hurl or propel the bag through the door opening, the projector acting in somewhat the same manner as the beam of a catapult. The movement of the projector is preferably effected by means of a rocker 16, which co-acts directly with the base block 11 and is provided for that purpose with a cam 17, which is adapted to engage and depress the rounded upper end 18 of the block in advance of its pivots or trunnions 13, thereby causing an abrupt forward movement of the projector. The aforesaid block end 18 may, if desired, be equipped with a wear plate 19, which conforms to the curvature of the block.

The rocker itself is actuated by means of a lever mechanism, which, in turn, is operated by a member included in the car appa rat-us subsequently described, said rocker be ing pivoted at 20, adjacent its lower end, to the frontside of the frame or cage 6, so as to have a swinging movement of suflicicnt amplitude. This lever mechanism is preferably capable of operation for either direction of travel of the car or train, and it is here shown as of a duplex character, in which case the cam 17 will likewise be of duplex formation, so as to permit the operative engagement of either of its extremities or working portions with the projector block 11. In the present or preferred construction, the duplex lever system comprises a pair of normally-upright levers 21 pivoted at 22, at their lower ends, to the front cage or frame side, and connected intermediate their ends with the upper end of the rocker by pivoted links 23, the upper end portions of said levers being slightly tapered and rounded.

The projecting apparatus, as a whole, is located at the center of the cage or frame,

and at each side thereof there is disposed one of the receiving devices 8. These re- -eiving devicesare preferably in the form of trough-shaped cradles, which are arranged longitudinally in the space between the front and rear frame sides, and are suspended from pairs of links 24-, pivoted at their upper ends to the upper frame rails, and at their lower ends to the false or supporting bottoms with which the cradles are provided, thereby permitting a free swinging movement of the latter in either direction. They are preferably of skeleton formation, and constructed of metalslats or strips which are sufficiently thin and flexible to yield slightly when struck by the bag; and for that reason, as well as by reason of the suspension mounting, the force of the blow will be absorbed and cushioned, and neither the cradle nor the bag is apt to be injured. The cradles may advantageously be made relatively high and narrow at their inner ends, and relatively low and wide at their outer ends, and their bottom walls may be inclined upwardly toward the center of the cage. so that a bag, on falling upon the corresponding cradle will slide inwardly and upwardly along the inclined bottom wall thereof, and the cradle, by reason of its suspension mounting, will be caused to swing in the same direction. The inner endwalls of the cradles are, of course, of the same height as the adjacent ends of their side walls, while the front ends of the cradles are open, so as to permit the entrance of the bags, as will be understood.

The apparatus carried by the car is preferably utilized both to support the mail-bag to be transferred, and to actuate the lever system of the projector. In the construe tion illustrated, it comprises a horizontal shaft :26, wiich extends transversely across the upper portion of the door opening 15 and is journaled at its ends in suitable bearings 27 aflixed to the side members of the door frame, said shaft being equipped with a rigid, lateral arm- 28, which is movable from an inoperative depending position, in which it lies within the door opening, to a horizontal or operat' e position in which it projects outwardly through said opening, so as to strike against the upper portion of one or the other of the two operating levers 21, according to the direction in which the car is moving. The said shaft may be rotated, to bring said arm from inoperative to operative position, by means of a crank 29 (Fig. '2), affixed to the shaft near one side of the door frame, and is adapted to be retained in the position specified by a spring catch 30, which is attached to said frame side and is engageablo over said handle.

At its free end, the arm 28 has fixed theretoan open-bottomed box or housing 31, wherein are pivoted the two bag-supporting members 32. These members are preferably in the form of angular hooks, as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, the pivot pins passing later ally through upstanding lugs 33, with which the inner wings of the hooks are provided. In the operative position of said hooks, their inner wings are disposed horizontally, while their outer wings project upwardly and outwardly through the open ends of the housing, so that either of said outer wings will thus form a support from which the mailbag to be delivered at the station may be suspended, according to the direction of travel of the car. The hooks are retained in their aforesaid operative position by means of a locking device, here shown as consisting of a rocking block or cam 3%, (Figs. 6 and 7), which is disposed within the housing and is fixed to the laterally-bent end 35 of a trip rod 36, said bent end being pivotally mounted in the walls of the housing. The arrangement is such, therefore, that when the block or cam is moved into upright position, as represented in dotted lines in Fig. 7, it will engage over the then horizontal inner wings of the hooks and prevent any pivotal movement thereof, thus holding the outer wings in active or supporting position; but when shifted to either side from such position, said cam will release one or the other of the hooks, according to its direction of movement, whereupon the hook so released will rock, under the weight of the bag, into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 7, the bag falling from the hook as will be understood.

The initial positioning of the trip 36 and its cam 3i is effected by a manual movement of the former, the parts being held against displacement by engaging the trip with a shoulder 37 formed by notching the enlarged end 38 of arm 28, (Figs. 2 and 6). The release of the trip, however, takes place automatically, and is caused by the trip striking against the horizontal upper portion 40 of one or the other of a pair of impact bars 39, such action occurring just as the car passes the station. These bars 39 are here shown as of inverted L-shape, and as located at opposite ends of the frame or cage 6, their aforesaid horizontal portions L0 proj ecting over and across the adjacent end portions of the cradles and lying in the path of the upright trip 36, as shown in Fig. 2.

In operation, referring first to the apparatus on the car, the mail-bag to be delivered at the station is attached by its upper ring to one or the other of the previously-set hooks 32, according to the direction of travel of the car, and the shaft 26 is then rotated by means of its handle 29 to shift the arm :28 and the mail-bag suspended therefrom outwardly through the door opening into effective position, said shaft being held against displacement, at the conclusion of such movement, by the engagement of the spring catch 30 with said handle. In the meanwhile at the station, the mail-bag to be transferred to the car is deposited in its trough-shaped support 10 on the projector 7, the latter then being in its normal, cocked or retracted position. As the car reaches the station apparatus, the nearer of the two impact bars 39 will strike against the up-v right trip 36 with its horizontal arm 40, and thereby rock the trip, so as to release the cam 34 from the loaded supporting hook 32; The bag then falls directly upon the inclined bottom wall of the cradle there beneath, and thereby causes said cradle to swing endwise upwardly and inwardly of the cage, the cradle thus being enabled to oppose a retarding force to the blow, which gradually brings the bag to rest.

Immediately after the removal of the carcarried bag takes place, the arm 28 comes into contact with the adjacent lever 21, fore ing said lever to swing toward the projector, and transmitting such movement to the rocker 16 through the intermediate link connection 23. Assuming that the left-hand lever 21, (Fig. 3), has been operated in this way, the rocker 16 will be caused to move in a clockwise direction, whereupon its righthand cam or cam end 17 will ride across, and press down upon the rounded end of the base block 11 of the projector, and said projector, in turn, will be caused to swing abruptly forward, thereby hurling the mailbag through the door opening into the car.

The projector then swings back to its original position, returning the parts connected with it.

I claim as my invention 1. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination, with mechanism located at the car door for supporting a bag exteriorly of the car; of a rocking projector adapted to support the bag to be delivered to said car; a lever system adapted to be engaged and operated by said car-carried mechanism and connected to positively transmit its operative movement to said projector, to rock the same bodily abruptly forward and thereby cause it to hurl the second-named bag through the door opening; and a device located in juxtaposition to said projector for removing the first-named bag from said carcarried mechanism just before the latter engages said lever system to actuate the projector.

2. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination, with mechanism located at the car door and comprising an arm adapted to project outwardly through the door opening to support a bag therefrom; of a rocking projector adapted to support the bag to be delivered to the car; a lever system, one element of which is adapted to be struck by said arm, said lever system being connected to positively transmit its operative movement to said projector to rock the same bodily abruptly forward and thereby cause it to hurl the second-hand bag through the door opening; and a device located in juxtaposition to said projector for removing the first-named bag from said. arm just before the latter strikes said lever system element to actuate the projector.

3. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination of a rocking projector adapted to support the bag; and a lever system operated by the car and connected to positively transmit its operative movement to said proj ector, to rock the same bodily abruptly forward and thereby cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car; said lever system embodying a rocking cam arranged to directly engage said projector.

4. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination of a rocking projector adapted to support the bag; and a lever system connected to positively transmit its operative movement to said projector, to rock the same bodily abruptly forward and thereby cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car; said lever system embodying a rocker arranged to engage with the projector, a contact member adapted to be struck by a projection on the car, and a connection between said contact member and said rocker.

5. In a mail-bag handlin apparatus, the combination of a rocking projector adapted to support the bag; and a duplex lever system connected to positively transmit its operative movement to said projector, to rock the same bodily abruptly forward and thereby cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in thecar; said lever system comprising a rocker engaging said projector, a pair of contact members disposed at opposite sides of said rocker and adapted to be alternately struck by a projection on the car, according to the direction of travel of the latter, and a connection between each contact member and said rocker.

6. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination of a rocking projector adapted to support the bag; and a duplex lever system connected to positively transmit its operative movement to said projector, to rock the same bodily abruptly forward and thereby cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car; said lever system comprising a pivoted rocker provided at each side of its pivot with a cam for engagement with the projector, a pair of contact members disposed at opposite sides of said rocker and adapted to be alternately struck by a projection on the car, according to the direction of travel of the latter, and a connection between each contact member and said rocker.

7. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination of a projector comprising a substantiallyvertical beam, a forwardlyprojecting element connected to the upper end of the beam for supporting the bag, and a forwardly-projecting block connected to the lower end of said beam and fulcrumed intermediate its ends to enable the projector to swing bodily forward and backward and to normally assume a retracted position; and car-operated mechanism engageable with the forward end of said block, to depress said end and thereby rock the projector abruptly forward, so as to cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car.

,8. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination of a projector comprising a substantially vertical beam, at forwardly projecting element connected to the upper end of the beam for supporting the bag, and a forwardly-projecting block connected to the lower end of said beam and fulcrumed intermediate its ends to enable the projector to swing bodily forward and backward and to normally assume a retracted position; a rocking cam engageable with the front end of said block, to depress said end and thereby rock the projector abruptly forward, so as to cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car; and car-operated means for rocking said cam.

9. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination of a projector comprising a. substantially-vertical beam, a bag-supporting element secured to the upper end of the beam, and a base block secured to the lower end of the beam and fulcrumed intermediate its ends, so as to enable the projector to swing bodily forward and backward and to normally assume a retracted position, said base block having its front end converted; a rocker provided with a cam adapted to ride across the convex end of the base block, to depress said end and thereby rock the projector abruptly forward, so as to cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car; and car-carried means for operat ing said rocker.

10. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the combination of a projector comprising a substantially-vertical beam, at bag-supporting element secured to the upper end of the beam, and a base block secured to the lower end of the beam and fulcrumed intermediate its ends, so as to enable the projector to swing bodily forward and backward and to normally assume a retracted position; a rocker engageable with the front end of the base block, to depress said end and thereby rock the projector abruptly forward, so as to cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car; and a lever system operative by the car and connected to positively transmit its operative movement to said rocker.

11. In a mail-bag handling apparatus, the

substantially-vertical beam, :1 bag-support ing element secured to the upper end of the beam, and a base block secured to the lower end of the beam and fulcrumed intermediate its ends, so as to enable the projector to swing bodily forward and backward and to normally assume a retracted position; a rocker engageable with the front end of the base block, to depress said end and thereby rock the projector abruptly forward, so as to cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car; and a lever system operative by the car and connected to positively transmit its operative movement to said rocker, said lever system comprising a pair of levers disposed at opposite sides of, and connected with, the rocker, to permit the actuation of said rocker for either direction of travel of the car.

12. In a mail-ha g handling apparatus, the combination of a projector comprising a substantially-vertical beam, a bag-supporting element secured to the upper end of the beam, and a forwardly-projecting base block secured to the lower end of the beam and fulcrumed intermediate its ends, so as to enable the projector to swing bodily forward and backward and to normally assume a retracted position, the forward end of said base block being convexed; a rocker disposed above said convexed end and provided at opposite sides with a pair of cams adapted to alternately engage and depress said end and thereby swing the projector abruptly forward, so as to cause it to hurl the bag through the door opening in the car; and means operated by the car for either direction of travel of the latter to actuate said rocker. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

W ILLI'AM I-I. AKENS. Wi tnesses HAMILTON A. VVILKISON, C. H. AKENS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

